1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of hair care and coloring. More specifically the present invention relates to a clip apparatus for evenly grouping and separating a series of bundles of hair, and lifting every other bundle away from the scalp so that the lifted bundles can be bleached or colored to contrast with the remaining bundles and produce a streaking effect. The apparatus includes a clip having a clip upper jaw and a clip lower jaw interconnected along rearward jaw edges by a hinge structure, the clip upper and lower jaws being biased with a hinge spring to close together. Upper and lower finger tabs protrude rearwardly from the clip upper jaw and clip lower jaw rearward jaw edges, respectively, at one side of the clip. The finger tabs are oriented to be spaced apart from each other when the clip is closed, so that the user can open the clip by pressing the finger tabs toward each other. The upper jaw has a series of notches along its forward edge defining a series of laterally spaced apart hair holding panels for holding alternating bundles of hair against the scalp. The lower jaw has an upwardly projecting comb with broad teeth spaced apart from each other and positioned such that they swing between adjacent pairs of holding panels when the clip is closed. Each comb tooth free end has an upwardly opening concave recess to engage and move a bundle of hair between adjacent holding panels and above the upper jaw.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Hair streaking is commonly performed entirely by hand. The hair dresser uses the handle of a rat-tail comb, for example, to dip into a layer of hair, lift a hair bundle away from the scalp, then skip a bundle and dip into the layer again and lift away another hair bundle, until a series of spaced apart bundles of hair rest on the comb handle. Then the hair dresser places a sheet of aluminum foil between the series of lifted hair bundles and the alternating bundles not lifted. Either bleach or hair coloring matter is applied to the lifted hair bundles and permitted to take effect. This is a laborious and time consuming process, inconveniencing the customer and reducing the efficiency of the hair dresser.
Various devices have been developed for manipulating hair for applying coloring matter, for weaving hair and for other purposes. One such device is that of Hunt, U.S. Pat. No. 4,993,438, issued on Feb. 19, 1991, for a hair weaving comb and method of use. Hunt includes a set of legs extending laterally from an elongate support member. The distal ends of the legs include hair engaging teeth for separating a section of hair into sub-sections. Inserting the comb into a layer of hair gathers subsections of the hair on the leg distal ends and permits alternating subsections of hair to drop between the legs and thereby separate. A problem with Hunt is that the hair dresser is still left with the task of picking up and holding onto the several alternating subsections between the comb legs and swinging them outward. Another problem is that the hair dresser must find a way to prop the lifted sub-sections of hair while applying coloring matter to them.
Potut, U.S. Pat. No. 5,494,060, issued on Feb. 27, 1996, discloses a hair clip with annular springs. The Potut clip is intended to be worn as ornamentation and probably for holding part of a hair style in place. Although Potut may serve these specific purposes, it is not suited to nor capable of separating and holding apart bundles of hair for coloring or bleaching alternate bundles. The outwardly curved ends of the legs extending from the two meshing Potut jaws are incapable of engaging hair bundles. The curved shape of the legs themselves also makes Potut poorly suited to a hair bundle separating function.
The prior art also reveals several hair devices which are suitable for weaving hair but generally not suitable for streaking it. These devices also tend to be bulky and expensive to manufacture. They include Saunders, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,049,006, issued on Sep. 20, 1977 for a hair weaving device; Simmons, U.S. Pat. No. 3,960,158, issued on Jun. 1, 1976 for a hair weaving tension system; and Reed, U.S. Pat. No. Des. 298,866, issued Dec. 6, 1988 for a hair weaving machine.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a hair streaking clip apparatus which receives a layer of hair and divides the layer into equally sized bundles of hair and separates alternating bundles for coloring automatically.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such an apparatus which provides a supporting surface for separated hair bundles while they are being colored or bleached.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide such an apparatus which is fast, reliable and does not pull hair or otherwise cause the person on which it is used any discomfort.
It is finally an object of the present invention to provide such an apparatus which is compact, reliable and very economical to manufacture.